Friday, September 28, 2007

Probably not, but I can't seem to let go of that Arkley/Glass theme. Remember that little project at the foot of "F" street called the Bayfront One? eurekawebs.com Are you all aware how much each of these condo units are? The 7 units average over $550,000 for less that 1,000 square feet! And two have been sold! Arkley and Glass maybe? For that much you get to see the derelicts and druggies killing time and scaring away tourists on the boardwalk, or spy on the out of work fishermen living in their boats on the Marina. By the way, which one of these units has the affordable housing element?

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Larry Glass first implied there was no apology sent. Then he admits there was an e-mail sent to him that he did not consider an apology. Then the e-mail becomes public with the word apology used 4 times. But then, since when does an apology sound this lame: "I am sorry you caused me to do this to you." I am really kind of sick of the whole thing.

One observation I do have about the dialogue concerning this topic: Only Rose is an Rob Arkley apologist that has publicly come to his defense on the blogs. All the others are weak anonymous wieners. The Glass backers have put their real identity's out there.

I like Larry and Rob. I wish they could both have a sit down. Maybe over lunch at the Cookhouse. I could wear a referee shirt and make sure no potatoes are flung. This whole thing has really been blown out of proportion.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The workers from General Motors are doing something that should have been done years ago. Fight for job security. GM workers strike Quit outsourcing American jobs! We need the good paying jobs to stay here in the United States! Ford Motors is guilty of the same. How is it that Toyota can make cars profitable here stateside? Here is the companies selling out US workers for the sake of greedy profit. CNN/Programs/exporting.america

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Doing a little "OT" at the mill. 4 people have been "terminated" in the last couple months. Maybe more. A few did not have their probation period in and did not seem to like to show up or show up on time. Seems to me that people would like making a decent wage.

I have a few days off coming up thank goodness. Sleep eat and work can be a drag in large doses.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Our mighty Tomaso Bombers wood bat team beat Moose Lodge (Old Stingers) 6-2 to move on to the Championship round of the Arcata Wood Bat Championships against Fed-Ex. Bob Rossig of Moose announced his retirement from softball after the game. (I told him I would be calling him in 6 months for the un-retirement)

Tomaso took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th against against Fed-Ex in the Championship pool game. We held Eric Eichen, Jeremy Rasmussen, Eric Younger, Ghery Foster, Andrew Turpin and crew in check until they really needed it. Boom Boom Boom, we were down 8-2 going into the 7th, and they closed the door. Same score we lost by a few days earlier. They deserved the win and were great sports.

The second place Tomaso team was led by Joe Money, Dave Rhodes, Chris and Eric Pence, Jackson Kirsher, Cameron Reed, Greg Alora, Alan Schmidt, Doug Small, Jerome Holbrook, Kevin, Toye Johnson player coach Chuck Kirsher and that old fat guy me. (But I can still get on base and run!)

I hate the end of softball! Now we enter the dark days of winter. All the guys I get to see in the sun seem to hibernate for the next 6 months. It is time for me to focus on Basketball!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Fed-Ex beat Tomaso's 8-2 to reach the Arcata Championship game Wednesday @ 7:30pm at the Arcata Sports Complex. (I went o fer, ouch!) The winner from Moose Lodge and Wolfe will face off with Tomaso at 6:15pm Wednesday to see who will have to beat Fed-Ex twice.

Samoa Athletics will host a wood bat tournament Oct. 13th and 14th at Hartman and Kennedy fields across from Sequoia Park.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Yep. Robin and survived another year. We used to joke that the only reason we were still married was because of the kids. Neither of us wanted them and we wanted to save a nasty court battle. "No your honor, she deserves them!" Running family joke for years. But they have been gone for a few years now and still we are together. I think it is just an endurance race now. Number 30 next year!

Friday, September 14, 2007

If you have time in the morning to brush off the old golf clubs and want to help a good cause, there are still openings available for tomorrows 8:30 shotgun start at Eureka Municipal Golf Course. The cost for each golfer is $80 and includes lunch and auction afterward. If you do not feel like golfing but would like to help, come out around 3pm for the silent auction. Many great gifts up for grabs. If you would like to help the HDVS but don't have the time to go to the golf course, please check out this website. HDVS: Humboldt Domestic Violence Services My wife and I belong to the board of directors, and any donation/help in any form is welcomed.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Division 5 Harbor Commisioner Charles Ollivier is not a real happy campaigner this year. Ollivier for Harbor District At a recent building trades meeting he went off on Division 2 candidate Carlos Quilez and was yelling at him after Carlos had talked with the Building trades board. He continued his verbal assault in the hall way at the Labor Temple as my wife was trying to address the board. She had to wait until the they were outside but you could still hear the yelling! Word has it that Charles had to be restrained by his wife to stop further escalation. Later that night Charles addressed the Central Labor Council and called his opponent Patrick Higgins a liar! And those two ended up having words after the meeting. Getting hot and heavy in this race. Stay tuned.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Murphy's of Arcata won the Championship game 6-2 over Central Station of Mckinleyville. Central Station beat my team, Tomaso's, from Arcata 10-8 to make it to the Championship.

Nine local teams or around 125 players and hundreds of fans were there. The FickleHillBillys performed Saturday night. Willow Creek must of actualized at least $50 per person this weekend from the coast. I bet nearly $10,000 total. All thanks to Chuck Kircher. For the last 5 years plus! Great Tournament, but I hope he expands to 12 teams next year! Crazy good time!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Robin, a Humboldt County native, reacts with aggression? Oh come on! Isn't that soooo Humboldt County? We are attacked? We react! Push or be pushed. Hit or be hit. Just don't do it in public or pay the consequences.

But now the public needs closure. So here we go. At the Manila Community Center. Larry and Robin in a ultimate fighting extravaganza! I hope they let me promote it. All the revenues could go to renovation of the wetlands along the balloon tract/track if Larry wins, and if Robin prevails, Home Depot/Best Buy/Wal Mart/Sam's Club/Fry's/Chili's/Barnes and Noble/Shopko/Office Depot/Macy's/In and Out Burger/JC Penney's/Outback/Trader Joes and whatever else is on the wish list goes into the Marina Project. And in memory of Tish, a polo field. (Oh yes, my ball field too!)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The new Cat Operator on my crew was training today on a Waggoner loader. I think it was his second time on the loader. After about an hour operation it caught fire while he was in the cab. He had to try to put the loader out of operation and evacuate while engulfed in flames. Literally had to leap from the Heavy Equipment while it is on fire. He made it safely but was shaken up. Thank God he was not on top of chip pile.

The Evergreen Fire Brigade and Samoa Peninsula Fire District did a great job in containing the fire. Oh yes, I was the first on site responder reporter.

I have also had to bail off a loader, and was in fact injured in a Heavy Equipment accident years back, and was permanently injured from the incident. That is the trade off of sometimes working in a dangerous environment. They don't just pay us these wages for nothing. This is a sobering reminder.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

I was interviewed by Cornell University about Employer and Union organizing tactics used in a couple of my campaigns in Southern California. It was kind of neat to relive the experience of leading a successful campaign, and kind of bummer to recall a huge loss and how that happened.

I was honored to be able to help Cornell in their quest to have data base of all kinds of different reforestation elections to show patterns and trends and lobby politically over the weaknesses of the National Labor Relations Board in protecting and honoring the workers right to organize.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Expanding term limits are voted down. Patty Berg will be garnering Wesley's endorsement if she is able to run another term.

Wes and I had a meeting to air my grievances and outline my hopes for working class in the Northern California District. I was a precinct captain on the Peninsula for Chesbro when Wes ran fro his Senate seat, and my campaign donated to his campaign back in 1998. Hey, I was at his spaghetti feed as late as last year.

So there you have it. I am not challenging Wes for the Assembly seat.

Maybe I will join Jake Pickering in running for Thompson's seat in Congress. (I won't kill the polar bears.)

And since we are celebrating Labor Day, let us recognize organized Labor as the reason for the 40 hour work week, improvement in working conditions safety and environment wise, and the right to bargain with an employer over wages and benefits. UNITED WE BARGAIN, DIVIDED WE BEG! Union workers earn 30% more than non-union workers in wages and benefits. In a union house it is equal pay for equal work The over all average in pay for women is 77 cents to the dollar compared to males. This is up from 59 cents to the dollar 25 years ago. We are making progress, but in a union house equality is all ready in place.

Locally in the early 80's, there were over 800 union workers on the Samoa Peninsula. Now there are 150. Restaurants and bars were union and we were given information on which establishments were "union friendly."

We seem to lag lately in Humboldt County in organizing and educating our workforce of the benefits of working union. Is it because our new generation is more mobile and do not want to be stuck on any job for more than a few years? Has our culture changed? My focus while raising a family was security. Isn't that part of a family raising equation?

There also seems to be an Independent uprising of young workers who do not feel the need to be a part of a "union" of workers and feel they can fend for themselves. I have witnessed this trend in different west coast areas where I tried to organize workers.

I wonder where our young workforce is headed. I hope they will realize the only hope for fair treatment is through organizing. Or good luck.